The incessant pet then causes the deer to run across the busy road that cuts through the park, forcing vehicles to stop.

Since being uploaded to YouTube, by a user called JAGGL113 last Sunday, the amusing video has been viewed by more than 161,500 people.

Getting into the spirit, one viewer offered the dog owner some advice on discipline, saying, "He should have shouted 'come by'".

Despite confusion over the name of the dog, "Fenton" - heard as "Benton" by many - it became the most popular topic of discussion of Twitter. At one stage "Benton" was the highest British “trending” issue on the micro-blogging site.

Richmond Park is the largest of London's Royal parks and is famed for its red and fallow deer, which are allowed to roam freely within much of the site.

Dog owners are advised to keep their dogs away from the deer in the grounds where lead restrictions operate in certain areas. The charity Friends of Richmond Park estimate that uncontrolled dogs kill around six deer, usually the young, in the park each year.

In September one female dog owner accepted a £650 fine for failing to control her pet in the park after it mauled a deer which subsequently had to be put down.